James w



1. 'wy CAMPBELL.

Center-Boards for Vessels.

No.1`51,273. PatentedMay 26,1874.

represents the body ot' a vessel.

dni-MES W. CAMPBELL, OF NET YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT lNCENTR-BARDS FOR VESSELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. E5L273, dated May 26, 1874; application filed April 14, 1874.

To all whom fit may concern:

Beit known that I, J AMES W. CAMPBELL, of New York, in the county of New York and State of N ew York, have invented a new and Improved Center-Board for Vessels, ot' which the following is a specification:

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section et a vessel having' my improved center-board, and Fig. 2 avertical transverse section ot' the same.

Similzr letters ot' reference indicate corresponding parts in both iigures.

Ihe object of this invention is to improve the construction ot' jointed or sectional centerboards for vessels. The invention consists in constructing the center-board ot' a series ot' sections, which are all separately pivotcd at their upper ends in the betteln ot' the ship, while their lower ends are pivotcd to a bar that is connected with proper chains extending into the ship, so that by such chains the center-board may be let down or raised, more or less. W'hen folded upward the sections all assume a horizontal or nearly horizontal position, side by side with each other, and thereby leaye the depth otl the folded center-board only equal to the width ot' one ot' the scctions, whereas heretofore, when the centerboard was raised, the whole body ot' it had to be hoisted into the ship',` and necessitated, therefore, the use ot' a cumbersome and in convenient trunk.

In the accompanying drawing, the letter A B B are a series of narrow plates, whose upper ends are, by bolts or pins a, connected and pivotcd into the body ot' the vessel, the said bolts or pins being applied in a recess which is cnt into the keel or otherwise formed in the middle of the ships bottom. The lower ends of these sections B are pivotcd to a bar, C, one end ot' which connects with a chain, I), that passes up into the body ot' the vessel through a suitable tube, el. By means of this chain the bar C may be raised or let down at will, and the center-board, therefore, extended and let down, or contracted and raised, more or less. Another chain, c, connects with one of the secu tions B direct, as shown, and is used to draw the center-board into the extended position by absolute force, to insure the proper extension iu case the resistance of the water should be so strong as to prevent the spontaneous extension of the jointed center-board,

The chain e extends into the ship through a tube, t', as shown. rIhe upper bolts of the sections B B are, by preference, supported in movable rails ff, that can be let into the bottom of the vessel from above, or that can, if desired, be removed from above, by removing a plank, g, from the bottom, giving access to the entire center-board from above for repair or inspection. The several sections B B are so arranged that they are side by side, as in Fig. l, and that at the same time the edge of 011e always overlaps that of the other-that is to say, they are side by side lengthwise, and also side by side crosswise, so that when the chain bis pulled, and the bar C carried up against the bottom of the ship into a recess, h., there provided, the several sections will assume a horizontal position, and there all lie side by side. rlhus the space necessary for accommodating the centerboard, when the same is not to be suspended, is greatly reduced as compared with the ordinary construction, while the center-board, nevertheless, gives the same degree of eiliciency. rlhe recess h, which is formed in the bottoni of the ship for the reception ofthe sectional center-board, is shorter where the sections are pivotcd to the rails j' than where the bar C is to told into, this being a peculiar construction following my invention ot centerboard. It is evident that instead of the bar C, an equivalent chain-connection may be used.

I do not, broadly, claim a sectional centerboard; but

I do claim as my invention- 1. A sectional center-board whose sections B B are at their upper ends separately pivotcd in the body ot' the ship, and at the lower end connected together with the horizontal bar C, for operation as described.

2. In a ship having a sectional center-board, B, the recess IL, provided in the bottom thereof, and made longer at the'lower part than at the upper part, as and i'or the purpose described.

3. Ihe combination ot' the rails f f with the sections B B ot' a center-board, said sections being separately pivotcd in said rails, substantially as set forth.

JAMES XV. CAB'IPBELTI.

Titnesses A. V. Bmnsnn, Guns. RAE'r'riG. 

